The last couple of years have brought about a tremendous boom around all things related to Blockchain - much of it being hype or even fraudulent scams, raising concerns among regulators, investors and the broader population. The key problem is a lack of education among the actors in this field which is a complex subject matter crossing disciplines in the technical, economic and legal environment. Knowing key principles from the «old economy» and basic concepts in this emerging technology space can prevent individuals and organizations from making mistakes similar to the «dot.com» bubble two decades ago. The nanoTalk by Aladar Tepelea will focus on delivering some of these principles and basic concepts to the audience and provide some anecdotal insights into the rollercoaster world of Blockchain and ICOs in the Q&A.

Talk 2: Digitalization in Energy Systems

Presented by Thierry Zufferey, PhD Candidate at the Power Systems Labortory, ETH Zurich

In order to meet the conditions for a sustainable and carbon-free society, the current energy system is subject to a change of paradigm. Large nuclear and fossil fuel power plants are notable replaced by distributed renewable energy resources. This leads to a more complex system and requires more intelligence. In this context of smart grid, an increasing amount of data is collected by high-resolution sensors, which opens up new challenges and opportunities that will be discussed in this talk.